Robert I
Robert I ( Robert Bruce) (1274–1329), earl of Carrick (1292–1306), king of Scots as Robert I (1306–29). Grandson of Robert Bruce, the competitor for the Scottish throne in 1291, Bruce never lost sight of his claim to the throne, but after John Balliol's enthronement in 1292 had little prospect of attaining it. After John's resignation in 1296, Edward I starkly refused any consideration of the Bruce claim. Despite the Scots' continued loyalty to their deposed king Bruce was deeply involved in the rising of 1297, and continued in resistance even after the defeat at Falkirk (22 July 1298). He served as joint guardian from 1298 probably to early 1300, and remained on the Scottish side till 1302.
Then however he made his peace with Edward. He still nursed hopes of the crown; but he had little chance in Scotland while Balliol was still being treated as the legitimate sovereign. He was also regularly at odds with the Comyn family who were Balliol's leading supporters. Bruce's desertion certainly reduced the chances of Balliol's restoration; and resistance to Edward collapsed in 1304.
Bruce's next move, the coup of 1306, remains hard to explain. We know that in 1304 he made a secret pact with Bishop Lamberton of St Andrews, a future ally. We know also that he tried to negotiate with John Comyn of Badenoch just before he revolted openly early in 1306, and that the result was a quarrel in which Comyn was murdered. But Bruce's decision to seize the throne was clearly already taken, since his actions after Comyn's death were carefully planned and rapidly executed. Barrow has suggested that Bruce had been biding his time till Edward was close to death, and that in 1306 he judged the time ripe. Events proved him right, though only just.
Bruce was crowned as Robert I on 25 March 1306; but though Edward was sick he was not to be trifled with. Robert himself was defeated at Methven (19 June 1306) by Edward's newly appointed lieutenant Aymer de Valence; and, probably in July, at Dalry in Perthshire, by a Scot, John Macdougall of Argyll. Kildrummy castle was captured by Valence in September. Robert's supporters and relatives were hunted down and executed; he himself had to go into hiding.
He reappeared in Ayrshire in the spring of 1307, and Edward I died in July. Edward II had little energy to spare for Scotland for some years, and this enabled Robert to overcome his internal enemies. The power of the Comyns was destroyed at the battle of Inverurie. Others, such as the earl of Ross, were won over. The king's brother Edward Bruce gradually reduced English authority in the south-west, while Robert himself concentrated on the western Highlands and Islands. By 1314, effective English power was limited to Lothian.
The years from 1308 also saw King Robert's grip over government tightened. In a parliament at St Andrews in 1309, declarations were issued in the name of the nobles and the clergy, asserting Robert's right to the throne as the lawful successor of Alexander III, and denouncing the aggression of Edward I in terms which set the pattern of Scottish national propaganda for centuries to come. Robert I was now widely accepted in Scotland as the rightful king. His authority was confirmed by the decisive victory of Bannockburn (24 June 1314), following on the recapture of Edinburgh and Roxburgh castles earlier in the year. Only Berwick and a few other border strongholds remained in English hands; and the rest of the war was fought by raids into the north of England. Berwick itself was recaptured in 1318.
In the rest of his reign, Robert I showed himself a masterful king. He was willing to be reconciled with his former enemies, and readily accepted the loyal service of those who were willing to submit; those who would not were exiled. His two chief problems were to secure the succession (his lack of a direct male heir until the birth of his son David in 1324 required three successive ‘tailzies’ (entails) of the crown in the parliaments of 1315, 1318, and 1326); and to secure his recognition by other rulers. He fell foul of the papacy by his refusal to comply with a papal truce in 1317, as a result of which he was eventually excommunicated in 1320. An earlier excommunication for the sacrilegious murder of John Comyn may have been lifted in 1308. That of 1320 was respited as a result of the appeal usually known as the ‘declaration of Arbroath’; from then on, the pope was prepared at least to give King Robert his proper title. English recognition was more difficult. Edward II would not concede it; and it came only after his deposition. At last in 1328, by the treaty of Edinburgh/Northampton, the English government admitted that Robert was king, and agreed to a marriage between his heir and a sister of the young Edward III as an earnest of a settled peace between what it recognized were two separate and independent nations.
Robert died, perhaps of leprosy, on 7 June 1329, having secured both his own position and the independence of his country. It was hardly his fault that Edward III overturned the settlement of 1328 only five years later. Robert I did not create the sense of an independent identity for Scotland: that had roots that went back long before the death of Alexander III and the conflicts that followed; but ever since his death, he has been the great hero of the Wars of Independence, the man who foiled Edward I's attempt to assert his authority over Scotland, and who defeated all efforts by Edward II to recover the position which Edward I had lost in 1306.
Then however he made his peace with Edward. He still nursed hopes of the crown; but he had little chance in Scotland while Balliol was still being treated as the legitimate sovereign. He was also regularly at odds with the Comyn family who were Balliol's leading supporters. Bruce's desertion certainly reduced the chances of Balliol's restoration; and resistance to Edward collapsed in 1304.
Bruce's next move, the coup of 1306, remains hard to explain. We know that in 1304 he made a secret pact with Bishop Lamberton of St Andrews, a future ally. We know also that he tried to negotiate with John Comyn of Badenoch just before he revolted openly early in 1306, and that the result was a quarrel in which Comyn was murdered. But Bruce's decision to seize the throne was clearly already taken, since his actions after Comyn's death were carefully planned and rapidly executed. Barrow has suggested that Bruce had been biding his time till Edward was close to death, and that in 1306 he judged the time ripe. Events proved him right, though only just.
Bruce was crowned as Robert I on 25 March 1306; but though Edward was sick he was not to be trifled with. Robert himself was defeated at Methven (19 June 1306) by Edward's newly appointed lieutenant Aymer de Valence; and, probably in July, at Dalry in Perthshire, by a Scot, John Macdougall of Argyll. Kildrummy castle was captured by Valence in September. Robert's supporters and relatives were hunted down and executed; he himself had to go into hiding.
He reappeared in Ayrshire in the spring of 1307, and Edward I died in July. Edward II had little energy to spare for Scotland for some years, and this enabled Robert to overcome his internal enemies. The power of the Comyns was destroyed at the battle of Inverurie. Others, such as the earl of Ross, were won over. The king's brother Edward Bruce gradually reduced English authority in the south-west, while Robert himself concentrated on the western Highlands and Islands. By 1314, effective English power was limited to Lothian.
The years from 1308 also saw King Robert's grip over government tightened. In a parliament at St Andrews in 1309, declarations were issued in the name of the nobles and the clergy, asserting Robert's right to the throne as the lawful successor of Alexander III, and denouncing the aggression of Edward I in terms which set the pattern of Scottish national propaganda for centuries to come. Robert I was now widely accepted in Scotland as the rightful king. His authority was confirmed by the decisive victory of Bannockburn (24 June 1314), following on the recapture of Edinburgh and Roxburgh castles earlier in the year. Only Berwick and a few other border strongholds remained in English hands; and the rest of the war was fought by raids into the north of England. Berwick itself was recaptured in 1318.
In the rest of his reign, Robert I showed himself a masterful king. He was willing to be reconciled with his former enemies, and readily accepted the loyal service of those who were willing to submit; those who would not were exiled. His two chief problems were to secure the succession (his lack of a direct male heir until the birth of his son David in 1324 required three successive ‘tailzies’ (entails) of the crown in the parliaments of 1315, 1318, and 1326); and to secure his recognition by other rulers. He fell foul of the papacy by his refusal to comply with a papal truce in 1317, as a result of which he was eventually excommunicated in 1320. An earlier excommunication for the sacrilegious murder of John Comyn may have been lifted in 1308. That of 1320 was respited as a result of the appeal usually known as the ‘declaration of Arbroath’; from then on, the pope was prepared at least to give King Robert his proper title. English recognition was more difficult. Edward II would not concede it; and it came only after his deposition. At last in 1328, by the treaty of Edinburgh/Northampton, the English government admitted that Robert was king, and agreed to a marriage between his heir and a sister of the young Edward III as an earnest of a settled peace between what it recognized were two separate and independent nations.
Robert died, perhaps of leprosy, on 7 June 1329, having secured both his own position and the independence of his country. It was hardly his fault that Edward III overturned the settlement of 1328 only five years later. Robert I did not create the sense of an independent identity for Scotland: that had roots that went back long before the death of Alexander III and the conflicts that followed; but ever since his death, he has been the great hero of the Wars of Independence, the man who foiled Edward I's attempt to assert his authority over Scotland, and who defeated all efforts by Edward II to recover the position which Edward I had lost in 1306.
Bruce Webster
Bibliography
Barrow, G. W. S. , Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland (3rd edn. Edinburgh, 1988);
Duncan, A. A. M. , ‘The War of the Scots, 1306–1323’, Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, 6th ser. (1992), 125–51;
Nicholson, R. , Scotland: The Later Middle Ages (Edinburgh, 1974).
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Robert I